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Book Arts Collection

A guide to discovering artists' books in the Book Arts Collection at Hill Memorial Library.

About This Gallery

This gallery contains artists' books that embrace multiple languages and translations. Graphic design and typography play large roles in these pieces. Some works include translations, but some are multilingual and do not directly translate the non-English text.

Multilingual Artists' Books

Kavya: Epigrams from the Sanskrit

Paz, Octavio. Kavya: Epigrams from the Sanskrit. Saint Louis : Emdash, 2002.
PN6287 .S3 2002, Rare

Sanskrit, Spanish and English text with photographs by Nina Subin.

Teach me, star of night!= Laer mig, nattens stjerne!

Laugesen, Peter. Teach me, star of night!= Laer mig, nattens stjerne! [Amherst, Mass.] : Bird Press, 2000.
PT8176.22 .A88 L313 2000, Rare

"The text is in both Danish and English. The Danish text is printed on translucent Seikishu Japanese paper and the English translation is printed on a thicker stock. This allows the reader to view the poems in both languages mirroring each other through the transparent paper." -- Publisher's description
Illustrations are created by etching.

A Flower like a Raven: Poems

Schwitters, Kurt. A Flower like a Raven: Poems. New York City : Granary Books, 1996.
PT2638 .W896 F569 1996 OVER, Rare

Playful typography play the German poetry and English translations off each other in linocut, pen and ink, watercolor, and cliche-printing.

Aelfric's Colloquy, in a modern English translation

Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham. Aelfric's Colloquy, in a modern English translation. East Burke, Vt.: Plowboy Press, 2010.
PR1530 .C6 A15 2010, Rare

"[The] Colloquy is often used today to introduce the study of Old English just as it was used a thousand years ago to introduce conversational Latin to young boys training for monastic life. Originally written in Latin, and later glossed in Old English, it is also a rich source of information on daily life in Aelfric's time ... "--Afterword.

Jump of the Manta Ray = Salto de Mantarraya

Boullosa, Carmen. Jump of the Manta Ray = Salto de Mantarraya. Bath, U.K. : Old School Press, 2002.
PQ7298.12 .O76 S258 2002 FLAT, Rare

Collaboration between Mexican poet Carmen Bullosa and photographer Philip Hughes. "Inspired by the sight of a giant manta ray leaving the water, Mexican poet Carmen Boullosa has written this epic and erotic poem for which Psiche Hughes has prepared an English translation. The two texts run in parallel, interspersed with twenty-nine images by Philip Hughes. A further twenty images accompany the book in a portfolio." -- Publisher's description

An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy

Xu, Bing. An Introduction to Square Word Calligraphy. Brooklyn: The Artist, 1996.
N7433.4 .X8 S78 1996 FLAT, Rare

An artist's book in the style of a Chinese calligraphy instructional manual. The text is English but you might mistake it for Chinese if you're not paying attention!

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